The present invention relates to a shock simulator and more particularly to a simulator for simulating the force pulse on a fired projectile.
Previously, the methods used for testing projectiles required impacting the projectile with a block of ductile metal such as lead or soft aluminum. The use of a soft deformable metal created the desired force pulse similar to that created by firing the projectile. The disadvantage in using this type of a simulator is that the metal is not resilient and, upon release of the force load, the metal does not resume its original dimensions. As a consequence, the block of ductile deformed metal must be replaced after every use of the simulator. Deformation of the metal block also results in a dissipation of energy thus detracting from the force pulse. The shock simulator of the present invention, in contrast to the prior methods, releases virtually all of the stored energy without deformation of metal and subsequent energy loss and thus can be reused after each simulation without replacement of parts.